Saturday, January 23, 2010

I have a new resolution: I want to bring our digital camera to every event in which we eat out - family gatherings, parties, romantic dinners, etc. That way we can document how we (try to) make the best/practical LC decisions in sometimes tricky situations.

This afternoon we'll be going out to run some errands. One of them is to re-size our wedding rings. This is a "good trouble" that often accompanies significant weight loss. At least we'll be doing this together. That way we'll both be without our wedding rings at the same time.

After our stop at the jewelers, we'll have an elegant dinner at a local restaurant. We often use dinner dates as a time to discuss our hopes and plans for the distant and near future. This is entirely by design. We came up with this strategy as an enjoyable way to slow down, for at least a few hours, and reflect on the things that often fall through the cracks during the busy week.

I'll post our photos from tonight's dinner later on. I hope the snap shots look as good as the menu sounds. :-)

PS - Mad had a spicy Bloody Mary and I had a glass of red wine (Santa Barbara Syrah) with dinner. Also, we didn't eat the dried cranberries or raisins on the first plate - or the sliced bread which we removed prior to snapping the photo.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Mad and I went to a local haunt for brunch this morning/early afternoon. The food was great and we even ran across a kinda-sorta celebrity who parked next to our car. This guy (Walton Goggins) - from the series The Shield.

We shared the two dishes. Mad had a spicy blood Mary with her meal and I had a glass of red wine (Syrah). We asked for the steak breakfast without potatoes but they brought them anyway. No big deal though ... they were easy enough to remove from the plate. ;-)

Friday, January 15, 2010

Try saying that 10x fast! I was in the mood for a Mexican style meal the other night so I created these finger foods. I used to eat taco salads all the time during my teenage years. You know the ones with an enormous taco shell bowl/crust. Anyhow, this a way to make a much healthier version (using Belgian endive leaves as shells) while still getting most of the taste and texture on that old favorite.

On the personal front, Mad's been doing great. Two friends recently commented on how beautiful and healthy she looked. These gal-pals began inquiring about how Mad was losing the weight and one went as far as asking about menu suggestions. One of these ladies is a new mom and would benefit tremendously from a positive change in lifestyle. Is there anything better than inspiring positive changes in others?

Weight-wise, I'm still stable at about 180 lbs and Mad's slowly but surely continuing to drop on the scale. No hiccups to speak of on the LC front.

PS - We tried a new variation of stuffed tomatoes this evening. Instead of using cream cheese, we used drained ricotta. Much, much better! The combination of parmesan, provolone, ricotta and soft goat cheese + fresh basil + fresh cracked pepper + red pepper flakes and sea salt really popped! It was oh so pizza-like. Mmmm.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

A good time, most of the time. We both stayed on the low carb path but still managed to enjoy our meals immensely. Lots of delectable, fresh seafood and even a night out at The Palm! But all in all, it's good to be home.

PS - Maddy is now down 18 poundsand feeling better each day! Lots of people are noticing her success and I have the feeling she'll be inspiring quite a few of her colleagues and friends to join us on our low carb pilgrimage. Love it!

PPS - A reworked version of the Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies was featured in one of my Healthy Fellow columns this past week. It uses Truvia instead of Splenda and features a shift in the baking time. The end result is an even better tasting cookie with a more cookie-like texture (less crumbly), IMO.